End matcher, woodworking machine



- Jan. 8, 1952 D. L. FAIR 2,581,947

ENDMATCHER, WOODWORKING MACHINE Filed June 26, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 lnvenifo 2 .Dcwms 7L. 1 30222 ya ww dizzy;

Jan. 8, 1952 D. L. FAIR 2,581,947

ENDMATCHER, WOODWORKING MACHINE Filed June 25, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 13 1/06 71/3/ 0 2'.- .Dazius L. 17x7)? Patented Jim. 8, 1952 UNITED STATES ?ATENT OFFICE END MATCHER, woonwonxmo MACHINE Davis Iir ir, Louisville, Miss. v

Application June 25, 1948, Serial No. 35.180

scams. (0]. 144-41) This invention relates to end-matohers and broadly speaking the object of my invention may be said to be theprovisionof an improved construction of end-matcher unit with auxiliary and cooperating work handling mechanism which fa cilitates and expedites the supply ofwork pieces to the unit, permitting a greatly increased production.

The end-matcher (considered as a type of machine) is well-known, its purpose being to out a tongue and a groove respectively on the ends of a board to permit such boards tobeintcrlocked endzto end with a tongue and. groove joint. The boards are usually similarly tongued and grooved along their sides. While the finishing of boards in this manner is by no means limited thereto, it finds a particular application in the manufacture of hard-wood flooring; and because. the shortcomings of .end-matchers as hitherto known, arising from their slow rate of feed, are very noticeable in the flooring'trade, I shall in the following description from time to time refer apecifically to the application of my invention to the production of flooring, but without limiting intent.

My invention will be well understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a plan view of the grooving unit of an A groove-cutting unit such'as illustrated ls allel to the front of the machine, that is vertically of the sheet viewing Fig. 1, a stop being usually provided to prevent the leading end of the board which was the first to be operated on from moving too far beyond the operator. It was his job to pick up the successive vpieces to place them on the feed chain of the end-matcher by a ordinarily used with a subsequent tongue-cutting unit, to whichthe work next passes-directly behind it, the two units constituting-the mechanism usually termed an end-matcher. For an understanding of the present invention it is unnecessary .to illustrate both units. The collocation of two such units is shown and described in the patent to Rose 1,095,233 of May 5,1914. Although embodying various differences in construction essential to the realization of the present invention, the unit here shown is similar to that in the Rose patent referred to, to which re":- erence may be made for a fuller description of features of construction not illustrated in detail herein. The drawing illustrates a machine direct driven by electric motors as contrasted movement transverse to their length. to be car ried by the feed chain past the cutting tools. The job was one requiring skill,- coordination and rhythm. even at relatively low rates offeed-; .Ihe work was also dangerous, with the successive pieces of wood hurtling like heavy arrows alon a lineacross which the operators handsmoved. As the speed 01 the edge-matche increased in modern practice it delivered work pieces at a rate beyond the powers of the feeder to keep up with it and in many instances two end-matcherswere required for each side-matcher. On discharge from the first unit the boardwas, then moved lengthwise to the front of the second unit which shaped the opposite end to be similarly handled and fed. V

In the handling of hard-wood flooring conditions were aggravated. The feeder must handle each piece separately, whatever its length. Generally hard-wood pieces were shorter, and being inherently more valuable. small pieces were worked. A defect which would be negli iblein a piece of soft wood siding would beinadmissible in a flooring strip and would be out out by the graders. thus making from a single piecetwo pieces to be handled by the-ieeden; t

Many attempts have been made to provide automatic feeders forendmatchers but onac'count of the wide range of lengths coming to the machine in miscellaneous order, these attempts. have notcome to practical fruition. Referring-now to the drawings, I there show an end-matching unit, specifically a grooving unit, which in many respects is like that shown in theRose' patent above're'ferred toyand may be considered for purposes of the present descriptlon'as embodying the matcher works proper 8, through which the boards are carried by a feed chain l0 having pusherdogs !Z. I 'The piecesare laid on the chain, face up, in front of the pusher dogs which carry them under a hold-down l4 and over spring-supported pressure bars (not illustrated 'in'detail) which ress that againstthe termines the vertical position of the piece being operated-on. The pusher dogs advance the work piece past a trim saw I8 operating in the vertical plane the outline of which is shown by a broken line in Fig. 2, which saw squares up the end, and a grooving saw 20 which cuts the groove.

The piece is then discharged at the further side of the machine. The verbal description embodied in-this paragraph would equally apply to the corresponding unit of the Rose patent just referred to.

In contrast with the construction shown in that patent the chain I is herein extended outwardly for a considerable distance from the feed ing-in end of the machine, that is, toward the left in the figures, to provide at that side as seen therein an extended portion of the horizontal up- 3 per run of the chain which is in effect a long table having an unobstructed horizontal top. In the particular machine illustrated, as contrasted with a like machine as hitherto constructed, the

extension of the table was in fact three feet, that is, the center of the chain-supporting roller at the left-hand end, viewing the figures, was three.

' therewith prior to entering under the hold-down There is thus provided beside the 'table on that side thereof where the saws l8 and 20 are cated and'where the legend Fig. 1 is written on that figure, a station where the feeder (operator) may stand facing transversely to the direction of feed, that is looking downwardly in Fig. l or toward the reader in Fig. 2.

Opposite the feeders station, on the further side of the feed chain from his point of view, a long conveyor 22 is provided herein shown as a belt. This extends to the left in Fig. 1 as far as desired and its upper run parallels the side of the table and moves at the same speed. The width of thebelt may be chosen to accommodate in stable position at least the majority of the pieces operated upon. I have herein shown also a conveyor chain 24. Its upper run parallels and moves with the belt 22 and may support the ends of 7 long pieces. The showing of this chain also indicates'that the conveyor 22 need not necessarily lustration I have shown in Fig. 1 the end portions offour work pieces to irregularly spaced and with their ends disaligned. In general it will be understood that a substantially unbroken succession of pieces will be maintained on the belt.

As the pieces on the belt 22 arrive at the side of the extended portion of the feed chain Ill which hasbeen referred to as atableand at the RPQfiitQ s de. 9. which thefeedertakeshis stand.

their ends are within the reach of the feeder who may reach across the chain to seize the end of a piece in his hand to draw it endwise toward himself over the table into position in front of one of the pusher dogs l2. This transfer is between two parts moving at the same speed and no substantial transverse movement of the relatively long board is required. The action of the pusher dogs will correct slight misalignments. The weight of the piece is supported and no skill and little manual strength are required.

To facilitate this transfer I prefer to provide along the side of the table where the man stands a fence 26. The feeder may draw the boards toward him until their ends come against the fence, thus positioning the ends relative to the trim saw for economical operation of the latter.

The fence relieves him of any need for attending to the exact longitudinal position of the transferred boards and it also protects him from contact therewith, and these two factors permit him to operate quickly. He may work with both hands, seizing a board with each. Since several boards may be positioned on the extended tablelike portion of the feed chain I0 at one time the feeders movements need not necessarily be timed in strict one to one ratio to'the supply of boards even when he keeps the chain full, a fact which considerably eases his labor.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly Fig. 1, it will be seen that I have'there illustrated a pusher dog l2 on each link of the chain m. It has hitherto been customary to provide a pusher dog on alternate links only, even though the length of the links is such relative to the work that a board of the width being worked upon could be accommodated in the space between adjacent pivotal centers of the links. This was "be cause the feeder could not work fast enough to supply a piece of work to each link; In fact he could not consistently keep the chain full with a pusher dog on every-alternate link. With the arrangement shown, even a less skilled operator can work so much faster that he can keep the chain at least reasonably full with twice as many dogs as is here illustrated. This illustrates the advantage of the invention, as in such case the feeding rate is substantially doubled. However, even if the pusher dogs are less numerous, as in the machines of the prior art, the method of feeding is of great advantage, permitting faster operation and requiring less skilled labor. Whereas previously a good feeder for-an end-matcher was a highly skilled man and relatively hard to find, no particular skill is required with the construction described. I

.On discharge from the-{grooving unit shown the pieces pass to a tonguing unit. They are arranged with approximate end alignment of the unfinished ends on a conveyor similar to the conveyor 22 and are transferredto a' similarly extended table-like portion of the feed chain on the tonguing unit. While the latter unit utilizes two saws to form the tongue in gross outline the units are alike but one right hand and one left in the relative disposition of their'compo'nent parts.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive'as is in fact clear in several matters from, the description itself. Reference" is to be had to .the. appendedclaims to indicate those principles of the invention exemplified by the particular embodiment described and which I desire to secure by Letters Patent.

I claim:

1. An end-matching machine of the type wherelength Several times the spacing of the does, such extension providing in effect a long table having an unobstructed horizontal top beside which a man may stand, at the feeding-in end of the machine on the side where the toois are located,

and facing transversely to the direction of feed,

and further being characterized by the fact that a relatively wider, long, endless conveyor mechanism is supported at the side of the table opposite the operators station, the conveyor having its upper run in the same vertical elevation with the table and extending from a point far in advance of the operators station toward the discharge end of the machine, so that a portion oi the run extends parallel to and adjacent the side of the table opposite the operators station, the conveyor being adapted to carry sidewise in the direction of machine feed successive boards in at least roughly parallel and end-aligned relation to positions within the reach of the man, who may thus draw them endwise toward himself over the table into position in front of the pusher dogs.

2. An end-matching machine of the type wherein a relatively wide, endless chain is provided with pusher dogs, which dogs engage the side of a board to be matched adjacent the ends thereof, advance the boards sideways through suitable supporting means and past the tools which shape the ends of said boards, the said machine being characterized by the fact that the upper horizontal run of the chain extends forwardly from the feeding-in end for a length several times the spacing of the dogs, such extension providing in effect an oblong, horizontal supporting surface beside which a man may stand, at the feeding-in end of the machine on the side where the tools are located, and facing transversely to the direction of feed, and further being characterized by the fact that a relatively wider, long, endless conveyor mechanism is supported at the side of said endless chain opposite the operators station, the conveyor having its upper run moving from a point in advance of the machine parallel to and in the same vertical plane with said-endless chain and to a point beyond the operators station toward the discharge end of the machine, the conveyor being adapted to carry sidewise in the direction of the machine feed successive boards in'at least roughly parallel and ell-aligned relation to positions within reach of the operator who may thus draw them endwise toward himself transversely of said conveyor mechanism in to position in front of the pusher dogs of said endless chain, the table having a fence along the operators side thereof against which the ends of the boards may be drawn.

DAVIS, L. FAIR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,082,791 Beugler Dec. 30, 1913 1,095,233 Rose May 5, 1914 1,600,656 Thaxton Sept. 21, 1926 1,711,275 Mansfield et a1 Apr. 30, 1929 1,740,972 Diehl Dec. 24, 1929 1,798,570 Wahl Mar. 31, 1931 2,253,453 Van Deinse Aug. 19, 1941 

